~ A site for my creative writing endeavors, writing prompt responses, and experimentation.

(Dis)Advantage of Foresight

Prompt: You’ve been granted the power to predict the future! The catch — each time you use your power, it costs you one day (as in, you’ll live one day less). How would you use this power, it at all?

At first the future seemed wonderful; later it became a burden. I had imagined I would use this new power – the ability to predict the future – to become rich. So and so stock would rise 2200 percent in 6 months, buy 1000 shares, sell before the crash, laugh all the way to the bank. Betting on who would win the Super Bowl? The team that was currently 0 and 4 but who would go undefeated the rest of the way, including the big game, would win it all according to my knowledge of the future. I could do this all day.

Sure, each prediction would take a day off my life, but what was one day here and there? None of us knew how many days we had left anyway, and all I would need would be enough days to set myself on the path to luxury. A month, tops.

I should have read the fine print. One day less, but which one day? Turns out it was today.

I predict the future all right. And the future was that this car speeding at me would send my motorcycle careening over the cliff. And there was no way to avoid it. I hate this power of seeing the futu…

[The above is a response to the daily prompt, as shown at the top. I took a slightly different tack on the “one day” idea.]

I haven’t had much chance to do creative writing for WE since I returned from my trip. Suddenly an existing editing client asked for a couple of projects (which has now turned into a third), and a new client showed up at my door. I also just had an article I wrote about Lincoln come out and I need to get another done this week for Tesla Magazine.

Hoping to get a breather soon before a very busy fall through Xmas arrives. Sometimes life can be too good. 🙂